This invention comprises improvements in the oil skimmers disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,715,034, Issued: Feb. 6, 1973 to A. Ivanoff entitled DEVICE FOR REMOVING OIL SLICKS. According to the above-identified patent "oil floating on a body of water is collected by moving a shallow-draft water craft, such as a barge, having a sternwardly slanted bow section and below the water line an ingress opening in or near the bow section through an oil slick. The slant of the bow section forces oil in its path downwardly thereby causing the oil, possibly intermingled with water, to flow as a flat layer along the bottom of the barge. As the oil reaches the ingress opening it is propelled into a hold of the barge due to the pressure differential between the outside and the inside of the barge. Oil thus accumulating in a hold of the barge may be removed therefrom from time to time and clear water as may also enter the hold is returned to the body of water."
The effectiveness of skimmers, according to the above-identified patent, decreases as the velocity between the skimmer and the water surface increases. This is due to the bow wave created by the inclined-plane which tends to collect oil in front of the bow wave and also to reduce the velocity of the oil relative to the surface of the inclined-plane to the point where the oil does not go down it for collection.